By Mike Dillon
If you fancy Hero to take tomorrow's $100,000 group one sprint at Te Rapa completely disregard the relativity between the 57.5kg he carries this time and the 58kg he was beaten with at Trentham.
In real terms there is more like 6kg difference than .5kg.
Hero's 58kg Telegraph Handicap top-weight was a real impost when you consider the winner Bawalaksana carried 52kg and ran the 1200m in a supposed world record 1.6.51.
Worse, Hero got landed outside the leader on the dog-leg course.
His owner and co-trainer Jim Campin certainly forgave Hero his fifth placing.
"I don't think there is a sprinter in Australasia that could have won the Telegraph with that weight, in that time, the way the race was run," said Campin yesterday, summing up Hero's chances in the $100,000 Waikato Draught Sprint.
This time, with the exception of 3-year-old Life Of Riley on 53kg, there is only 1.5kg between the rest of the field and 1400m is Hero's pet distance.
Less than ideal is the No10 barrier, but Hero is fast and it is unlikely anything will want to engage him in an early speed duel.
Surface is all class, which he will need to be to jump up from the 52kg he carried to victory in the Thorndon Mile to 57kg.
Another niggling worry for astute trainer Noel Eales is Surface having to come back from 1600m in the Thorndon to 1400m.
Surface gets to the line strongly from mid-field in his races, but he will not want to find himself momentarily flat-footed if he is giving Hero six lengths start on the home bend.
Straight Back's six-straight formline this campaign will have him fairly short in odds, but going from 53kg in a fair handicap to 57kg against Hero and Surface is as different as night and day.
He is honest, though, and does not lack heart in a tight finish.
Aerosmith has the weight-for-age form on his scorecard to say he should start favourite in the $100,000 Whakanui Stud International (2000m).
Forget his Thorndon Mile failure. He was having his second start back from a spell and was anchored under his 59.5kg when the sprint went on.
The 2000m here is ideal and he would need to reproduce something similar to the weight-for-age form he displayed in Melbourne during the spring carnival to go close to winning.
Fayreform copped a bad check in the Thorndon Mile and trainer Stephen Autridge is happy to completely ignore her 17th placing.
"She has worked well since and this race will suit her better," he said.
Bluebird The Word, Del Coronado and All In Fun are among a handful of realistic chances to put pressure on Aerosmith.
Horse Racing: Weights point to heroic win
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